With consistent technological advancements resulting in a plethora of benefits, it’s clear why the VoIP market is still growing and is set to reach $55 billion by 2025. In this article Sam O’Brien Senior Website Optimisation & User Experience Manager for EMEA at RingCentral expalins why thousands of eCommerce businesses are switching to a VoIP phone system.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology isn’t going away anytime soon. Businesses all over the world are enjoying the many benefits made possible with a VoIP phone systemOpens a new window .
And, as more companies migrate to VoIP, more providers appear. That increases competition and drives the prices down for you.
It may seem like there’s no better time than now for your e-commerce business to invest in VoIPOpens a new window . After all, your business is online anyway. Why not push your voice calls through the internet as well? VoIP providers will sell their service as a ‘guaranteed improvement’ to your team.
But what are those guarantees? And is VoIP as useful for e-commerce businesses as it is for retailers? In today’s article, we’re going to explain the many reasons why VoIP could be a good investment for your e-commerce team.
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Significant Cost Reductions
One of the surest benefits your e-commerce business will enjoy from VoIP over regular telephony is lower costs. Your current landline service provider will charge you based on the minutes that your team use the phone. You’ll also be paying landline rental costs. Line and cable repairs are built into landline rental costs.
VVoIP phone systemVoIP phone systemoIP transmits calls through your broadband network. Your online business already depends on that broadband network, so VoIP installation and set-up need very little capital. No new lines need to be added, and there’s very little hardware required.
You will need to check that your network can handle the demands of VoIP. You might discover that a higher bandwidth allowance is required to cover higher usage.
Yet, with a small investment, you’ll still slash your overhead costsOpens a new window . On top of that, many companies will throw in free headsets and extra perks. International calls won’t cost the earth either. They are usually charged at the same rate as a national call.
As your e-commerce business grows, there’s every chance you’ll globalize your operations. Those cheaper international calls will help keep costs down. And, as your team grows, adding and removing VoIP numbers is easy.
Increased Availability & Enhanced Customer Interaction
You don’t have a store window with opening and closing times – that’s the beauty of e-commerce. Customers can make purchases round-the-clock, and you don’t have to be there while they do so.
But what happens when they need some assistance? Your office team is sure to have shift patterns: nobody can work for 24 hours. So, if your business doesn’t operate 24/7, there are still several tools you can use to interact with customers – even when you’re not there.
With a VoIP network, it’s easy to set-up a smart voicemail system. You can also play automated messages that share support hours. Or, perhaps you’d like to share marketing information with customers as part of your marketing strategy.
If you already have a 24-hour service with workers in different locations, VoIP enables you to use the same number when providing support. With your VoIP configuration, you won’t be held back by international landline restrictions and area-specific phone numbers. Instead, each staff member will be able to work from the same handy platform and answer calls from the same network with multiple IP addressesOpens a new window .
With a VoIP system in place, calls made to closed branches can be routed to offices where staff can take the call. You’ll never miss a client inquiry again.
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Better Customer Service
When you invest in VoIP, you’ll unearth a host of tools that you can use to improve your team’s customer service. Those tools could be as simple as call recording. Once you’ve built a library of different call-scenarios, you can use them for training staff in different and difficult situations.
If your business uses VoIP to offer 24-hour customer service, then you’ll always be on top of customer complaints. This helps you listen and respond to complaints almost immediately. Otherwise, customers need to wait until you’re available, and the issue only gets worse without a response.
In the worst-case scenario, their complaints could go viral. With your team using VoIP to communicate round-the-clock, that won’t happen.
New Technology and an Improved Customer Experience
VoIP phones can do more than enable easy call recording. Call-waiting and call-forwarding are two straightforward features VoIP offers. These features enable you to direct calls to individual staff members with the click of a button.
Intelligent voicemail and automated responses help with customer interaction. However, VoIP also creates an opportunity to use an interactive voice response (IVR) system.
Interactive voice technologyOpens a new window enables you to direct the customer to the correct member of staff. This form of automation can also solve common issues without human interaction.
When customers do need assistance, your workers will enjoy more flexibility than they did with your previous landline network. With a VoIP set-up, each worker can have a user profile and a dedicated number that is unique to them.
So long as staff can connect to the internet, they can make and receive calls. Workers will be able to set an availability ‘status’ with VoIP, and they’ll know when others are (and aren’t) ready to help with calls.
When you’re speaking to a client, you’ll also be able to view their purchasing information and order history on screen. This helps your team provide a personalized service to customers. These features can be used to improve customer experience.
VoIP Benefits eCommerce of Any Size
VoIP can improve your e-commerce business in so many ways. If you rely heavily on existing telephony for customer support, incorporating VoIP technology will provide you with a better, cheaper service, with more functionality. This is especially the case as technology such as 5G develops and becomes more widespreadOpens a new window .
Numbers are added without any new lines or cabling. And if you need a bigger office again? Then you pack up your VoIP service and take it with you. There truly is no bad time to consider investing in a VoIP configuration.
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